Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday

Transcription

1 Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2007 Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday Brent Sleasman Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Sleasman, B. (2007). Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact

2 MEETING THE ABSURD: CAMUS AND THE COMMUNICATION ETHICS OF THE EVERYDAY A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Brent C. Sleasman December 2007

3 Meeting the Absurd Copyright by Brent C. Sleasman 2007

4 Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday By Brent C. Sleasman Approved August 24, 2007 APPROVED Ronald C. Arnett. Dissertation Director Chair and Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies APPROVED Janie Harden Fritz, Ph.D. Reader Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies APPROVED Kathleen Glenister Roberts, Ph.D. Reader Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies APPROVED Albert C. Labriola, Ph.D., Acting Dean McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii

5 Meeting the Absurd ABSTRACT MEETING THE ABSURD: CAMUS AND THE COMMUNICATION ETHICS OF THE EVERYDAY By Brent C. Sleasman December 2007 Dissertation Supervised by Dr. Ronald C. Arnett The metaphor of the absurd, as well as the work and thought of Albert Camus, has primarily served as a secondary resource within the communication discipline. This project contributes to the conversation about the absurd in an effort to further the study of communication ethics by placing Camus in the foreground. The metaphor of the absurd provides an opportunity to examine philosophical hermeneutics in relation to Camus s insights. The work of Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer, emphasizing the role of metaphor and how it connects the absurd as used by Camus to our current postmodern moment, provides the methodological framework for this project. While many differences exist between the historical moment of Camus and the contemporary postmodern moment, both represent a time in which there is no longer paradigmatic certainty. iv

6 Meeting the Absurd Through an exploration of Camus s three cycles of work addressing absurdity, revolt, and judgment, this project firmly places Camus s engagement within the context of the study of communication ethics. Through his implicit work as a philosopher of communication Camus provided an example of a person with deep ethical commitments who navigated through the chaos of a moment of metanarrative decline. In our own moment of narrative and virtue contention, Camus s voice should again be heard as we seek to take communicative responsibility in an age of absurdity. v

7 Meeting the Absurd ACKNOWLEDGMENT While it is impossible to thank everyone who has contributed to the ideas revealed in the following pages, I wish to express my thanks to a special few who have contributed their own energy to the completion of this dissertation. Cindy Burke: While my questions and concerns represent only a very small portion of your position, you have always assisted in such a way that led me to believe I was your one and only priority. Thank you. Annette Holba: Your insights have been both challenging and invigorating. Thank you for your time and friendship. Eric Grabowsky: Our conversations are always insightful and enjoyable. Thank you for the phone calls, s, but most of all, your friendship. Dr. Calvin Troup: From our initial conversation about the Rhetoric Ph.D. program through the current moment, you have provided a wealth of academic, personal, and professional guidance. Thank you for the inspiration that you have provided for so many students, myself included. Dr. Janie Harden Fritz & Dr. Kathleen Glenister Roberts: As members of my dissertation committee you have provided guidance and insight into this project. As faculty members your classes have both challenged and stretched my understanding of the discipline of communication. Thank you. Dr. Ronald C. Arnett: Words alone cannot express my thanks. Therefore, in lieu of a thank you I can simply say that I will do my best to follow the high standard of hard work and engaging scholarship that you have provided. You are my academic hero. vi

8 Meeting the Absurd And finally To Zoe Grace: Little did we know the significance of a name that means life. You fill our home with laughter, joy, and a zest for life we could never experience without you. Julie: You are part of every page that is written. Thank you for your patience and support. vii

9 Meeting the Absurd TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract iv Acknowledgment vi 1 Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday 1 2 Meeting the Absurd: Recognition 33 3 Meeting the Absurd: Response 77 4 Meeting the Absurd: Acknowledgement of Consequences The Communication Ethics Turn Toward Responsibility 154 Works Cited 191 viii

10 Meeting the Absurd 1 Chapter One Meeting the Absurd: Camus and the Communication Ethics of the Everyday Of the few scholars still interested in Camus, most esteem his literary genius but denigrate his importance as a philosopher (Golomb 268). If one could say just once: This is clear, all would be saved (Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus 27). Absurdity, for Albert Camus, represented the conclusion arrived at by those who had assumed the possibility of a total explanation of existence by the mind who discover instead an unabridged gulf between rationality and experience (Cruickshank 49). Out of this tension between the way one desires the world to appear and the harsh truth of human existence emerges the metaphor of the absurd. The metaphor of the absurd is not exclusively found within the domain of philosophy since it is deeply tied to one s lived experience. But the reverse is true as well; absurdity is not merely a metaphor concerned with human existence having no philosophical justification. The interest that Albert Camus held in the idea of the absurd is not surprising since he was both a philosopher and a participant in the ongoing communicative tensions within his own culture resulting from his role in the French Resistance during World War II, along with his work as a journalist, playwright, and novelist. This interaction between Albert Camus, the

11 Meeting the Absurd 2 metaphor of the absurd, the philosophy of communication, and communication ethics provides the framework for the central question guiding the research of this dissertation: How can Albert Camus s use of the metaphor of the absurd assist a human communicator in engaging the historical moment from an existential ethical perspective in a time of narrative and virtue contention? Introduction The metaphor of the absurd emerges out of the interplay of philosophy and the ethical communicative practices embodied by Camus, supporting the notion that he can serve as a model of a philosopher of communication for our postmodern age. For the purposes of this dissertation, absurdity can be considered as a background concern while the absurd is an issue that is faced in a given moment. During a time of intense involvement with the French Resistance throughout the German occupation of France during World War II, Camus worked as a journalist for an underground newspaper called Combat. Through his writings for this paper, Camus continually demonstrated his commitment to the communicative practices necessary to navigate the absurdity of everyday life in order to make an ethical difference. Camus demonstrated his commitment to engaging his moment from a philosophical perspective through the writing of the essays The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel, his novels The Stranger, The Plague, The Fall, A Happy Death, and The First Man, and his plays Caligula, The Misunderstanding, and The Just Assassins. Following the liberation of Paris by the Allied forces, Camus provided evidence of his commitment to ethical practice when he wrote on September 4, 1944, as he shared his vision for post-war France, [T]he affairs of this country should be managed by those who paid and answered for it. In other

12 Meeting the Absurd 3 words, we are determined to replace politics with morality. That is what we call a revolution ( Morality 28). As opposed to falling into despair and failing to act, Camus believed revolt represented an appropriate response to absurd circumstances. The overwhelming burden that Camus felt for the future of post-war France did not immobilize him, leaving him incapable of making a decision about how to act in a given moment. Instead, he allowed the tensions of the moment to propel him to productivity, engaging his moment through a variety of communicative exchanges. Camus sought the freedom to respond to the moment as was necessary and rejected being labeled by any one particular system of belief. He did not belong to any school of thought and held, along with Franz Kafka, a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy [which was] superficial, academic, and remote from life (Kaufman 12). Although Camus did not write explicitly about communication ethics, his keen interest in the implications of deeply philosophical ideas revealed within everyday life and his commitment to an ethical philosophy that was not superficial, academic, and remote from life invite him into a conversation about communication ethics within this contemporary moment of narrative and virtue contention. While the work and thought of Albert Camus has primarily served as a secondary resource within the communication discipline, this project connects his use of the absurd with the formal study of communication ethics by placing Camus in the foreground. The metaphor of the absurd provides an opportunity to examine philosophical hermeneutics in relation to Camus s insights. The work of Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer, emphasizing the role of metaphor and how it connects the absurd as used by Camus to our current postmodern moment, provides the methodological framework for this project.

13 Meeting the Absurd 4 While many differences exist between the historical moment of Camus and the contemporary postmodern moment, both represent a time in which there is no longer paradigmatic certainty. The metaphor of the absurd is evident throughout the entire life of Camus. While the following section is not an effort to make false connections between Camus s experiences and his use of the metaphor of the absurd, it is an effort to illustrate that Camus faced many situations of absurdity throughout his life and personal meeting of the absurd. Meeting the Absurd Albert Camus was born on November 7, 1913, in Mondovi, Algeria, and died on January 4, 1960, in Sens, France. Within a year of his birth, in 1914, his father was killed in the Battle of Marne (France) during World War I. Left fatherless, Camus s mother moved him and his brother into the home of his grandmother. Grandmother Catherine Sintes was a harsh woman the return of Catherine Camus with two infants, exceeded her understanding The children s mother was a passive witness to the brawling and beating, restrained by fatigue, by fear of the old woman, and the inability to express herself sharply and effectively (Lottman 21). The absurdity of losing one s father and being raised by an illiterate mother and grandmother formed the early years of Camus (Lottman 18). If any opportunities were to come for Camus, he would have to overcome the family circumstances and create opportunities for himself, despite the absurdity of the situation. McBride writes, For Camus, then, it is not the world but the human condition that is absurd. The world itself is simply unintelligible (5). A further example of the randomness of life impacted Camus when he was a teenager. He was an avid soccer player until he was struck with tuberculosis (Lottman 43). From this point on, Life in

14 Meeting the Absurd 5 the sense he knew it seemed to come to an end, when it should just be beginning (Lottman 45). Although he was not yet writing about absurdity, Camus was gaining firsthand knowledge about the concept that would come to define his work. Until this point in his life, absurdity for Camus was witnessed only within his lived experience. As he continued his academic training these personal experiences would be textured as he encountered ideas of many thinkers including St. Augustine and Fyodor Dostoevsky. From 1918 through 1923 Camus attended primary school. Upon completion of this phase of his education he held various jobs including selling spare parts for cars, working in a marine broker s office, acting as a clerk, and taking post in a meteorological office (Cruickshank 13). He completed his formal education in 1936 with a dissertation which addressed the beliefs of Plotinus as they related to the Christian faith of St. Augustine. While completing his education Camus was building a reputation for his skills and interest in the theater. In 1935 he founded the Theatre du Travail (later reorganized into the Theatre de l Equipe ). Within this context Camus first adapted and performed works by Dostoevsky. Although it was not published until 1944 or performed until 1945, Camus wrote the play Caligula during this time of productivity in the theater as well. In addition to his work within the theater, Camus s existing writing includes novels, book length philosophical essays, newspaper editorials and articles, personal notes, and correspondence. His most famous works include the novels The Stranger (1942), The Plague (1947), The Fall (1956), A Happy Death (1970, posthumously), and The First Man (1995, posthumously); the essays The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) and The Rebel (1951); the plays Caligula (written 1938, performed 1945), The State of Siege

15 Meeting the Absurd 6 (1948), The Just Assassins (1949), and The Misunderstanding (1958); and the collection Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (1961). All of these writings connect Camus to the central question guiding the research of this dissertation which addresses the engagement of an absurd historical moment through an exploration of the interplay of Albert Camus and the study of communication ethics. In the introduction to The Rebel, Camus meets the absurdity of his moment as he wrote, The purpose of this essay is once again to face the reality of the present it is an attempt to understand the times in which we live (3). Camus, along with many others of his era, could have chosen to ignore a period which, in a space of fifty years, uproots, enslaves, or kills seventy million human beings (Rebel 3). But instead of ignoring the moment, Camus believed that he had to make the choice to engage the moment as it actually appeared before him. This commitment held by Camus illustrated his willingness to engage the world as it actually existed and not the way in which he hoped it would appear. Arnett and Arneson write, We are not saying that one must like or approve of a given historical moment. We are suggesting, however, that any historical moment must be taken seriously and responded to, rather than ignored (Arnett and Arneson 37). The Rebel was one of Camus s entrances into the ongoing conversation of his historical moment and represented his best effort to face the reality of the present. Camus worked from a position situated within a larger context or narrative and he came to embody the particular narrative that he represented. Camus s commitment to living out his political and philosophical beliefs despite the absurdity of his historical moment, while contributing to his eventual broken relationship with Jean Paul Sartre, demonstrated his belief that words and actions should be consistent with one another.

16 Meeting the Absurd 7 Aronson writes, In the end Camus and Sartre split not only because they took opposing sides but because each became his own side s intellectual leader (2). Perhaps in less turbulent times the two could have remained friends, but the politics of their everyday lives and the situation in post-war France made that option impossible. In our current moment many would simply agree to disagree, but within a moment possessing an unabridged gulf between rationality and existence (Cruickshank 49), this split further accentuated the absurdity of their time. Eventually the two differing approaches to post- World War II France led to a permanent end to the friendship: In a philosophically intense and personally brutal argument, the two main voices of postwar France intellectual life publicly destroyed almost ten years of friendship. At first reluctantly and hesitantly, and then with a rush that seemed uncontrollable, Sartre and Camus also shattered their political milieu and any traces of what was once their common project of creating an independent Left. (Aronson 2) The focus of their conflict intensified around the publication of Camus s The Rebel. By this point in time Sartre had become one of many apologists for Stalin (Lottman 523) while Camus was growing more and more hostile towards Communism. The author s [Camus s] unambiguous stand against Stalinism was bound to receive sympathy and approval from conservatives, from anti-communists of all types (Lottman 522). While either man could have compromised to save the relationship, each recognized that the conflicting narratives could not be resolved, so both chose to live consistently within his given position while living in tension with the other person. While their debate was philosophically grounded, their concerns were communicated in a very public context.

17 Meeting the Absurd 8 Camus s commitment to allowing philosophical ideas guide his communicative choices and actions, even when it required ending a close friendship, provides support of his functioning as a philosopher of communication with deep ethical concerns. While one cannot psychologize (Arnett, Dialogic Confession 12) about how these personal experiences impacted Camus s philosophy and writing, what a person sees and hears rhetorically guides and influences the work one is able to accomplish. Camus s string of broken relationships with his first wife, co-workers, and most famously Sartre (e.g. Lottman 359) does not invalidate his ability to shed light upon a discussion of commitment to dialogue, a major concern of many who work with the ideas surrounding communication ethics. In fact, Camus s commitment to living out philosophical and ethical commitments in everyday life, while often leading to broken relationships, further textures his understanding of absurdity that some times the things that make sense intellectually cannot be maintained in the everydayness of living. Herbert Lottman, writer of the first biography on Camus, provides a coherent picture of Camus s understanding of dialogue in which Camus does not believe that dialogue could begin with silence (525). From this position Lottman writes that Camus was committed to combat silence and fear, to defend dialogue (429). As Camus aged, his health always in question, he made an intentional effort to take more interest in other people and other things (Lottman 509). Camus was willing to stand his ground in the face of adversity. In fact, Simone de Beauvoir suggests that part of the reason that Camus had an eventual falling out with Jean Paul Sartre was due to his inability to compromise (Lottman 536). The foreground of Camus s actions was firmly rooted in the background of his philosophical understanding of the world. Lottman suggests that Camus

18 Meeting the Absurd 9 understood the German occupation of France in both a real and metaphorical sense. The metaphor of occupation for Camus revealed that simultaneously everything stopped and everything continued. This dialectical tension of action and inaction is another example of the elements working in Camus s life as he engaged the world. The absurdity of the human condition is further illustrated through the manner in which Camus died. On January 4, 1960, while traveling with his good friend and publisher, Michel Gallimard, Camus was killed in a car accident that had no apparent explanation (Lottman 698). These tensions that existed unresolved, in both his work and his life, further texture the emergence of Camus s use of the metaphor of the absurd. The Absurd and Albert Camus within Communication Scholarship The writings of Camus, both the fiction and nonfiction, have served as required texts within an undergraduate communication ethics course functioning as humanities case studies (Bell and Sleasman 35). When researching scholarly journals within the formal discipline of communication the name of Albert Camus rarely appears in a title of an article and within book length critical studies Camus primarily serves as a secondary source. While the work of communication scholars such as Ronald C. Arnett references the ideas of Camus (Communication and Community, Dialogic Confession, Dialogic Education, Dwell in Peace, and Dialogic Civility with Pat Arneson), it is again in a secondary fashion and only one directly addresses the metaphor of the absurd (Communication and Community). One recent doctoral dissertation from within the communication discipline situates the work of Camus, specifically The Plague, within the wider study of communication ethics (Cook ) but again, Camus s work simply illustrates the larger point of that particular project and does not receive primary focus.

19 Meeting the Absurd 10 In one of the very few examples of published communication scholarship that directly addresses Camus s work, Beverly M. Matherne explores The Misunderstanding as it relates to the topic of hope. Camus himself addressed many concerns central to communication ethics and the philosophy of communication including the ethical response to a given moment in spite of its absurdity. This dissertation provides evidence of the significance of the metaphor of the absurd for the current postmodern moment through the direct engagement of the thought and writings of Albert Camus. Camus s commitment to working through real world examples further supports his connection to the formal study of communication ethics and the philosophy of communication within a postmodern moment. Through the connections between Camus and a French contemporary who is drawn upon extensively within the communication discipline, Jacques Ellul, it is possible to further situate both the work of Camus and the metaphor of the absurd within contemporary communication scholarship. An interesting similarity between the two is that while Camus and Ellul shared a philosophical interest in existentialist ideas, Camus distanced himself from the existential movement and through secondary research Ellul has been distanced from the movement as well (e.g. Eller). Each man was a unique thinker, both sharing an interest and dependence upon the writings of Søren Kierkegaard (e.g. Eller). The philosophical commitments of Ellul mirrored many of the concerns addressed by Camus. Troup writes: [Ellul] advocates a robust role for rhetoric that values the word, speech, and its necessary role in rescuing society from the brutalizing bureaucracy and self-

20 Meeting the Absurd 11 validating technology. He promotes public dialogue and believes it can be meaningful; more and less than a mask for the will to power. (43) There are several basic experiences that each man shared that had a great impact upon the standpoint with which he engaged the world. As stated previously, what a person sees and hears rhetorically guides and influences the work one is able to accomplish. Therefore, considering that Camus and Ellul shared similar life experiences it is not surprising that many of their philosophical commitments are similar as well. Jacques Ellul and Albert Camus were born under the French flag in consecutive years (Ellul in 1912 and Camus in 1913). Both were born to immigrant parents and raised as a French citizen in a poor family. There are several implications of this similarity in experience. This shared nationality within a modern European context was defined by geographic heritage and led to the two being situated within similar economic circumstances and a shared historical moment. This also allowed both Camus and Ellul to be products of the French educational system. Clifford G. Christians links the political involvement of Ellul and Camus when he writes, During World War II, along with Camus, Malraux, and Sartre, [Ellul] was a leader in the French Resistance, operating from a small farm outside Paris ( Ellul 158). This political involvement of each demonstrates the desire to work through the implications of one s philosophical positions in the midst of everyday circumstances, and not function as a philosopher removed from daily life. In an effort to respond to the historical moment within a volatile political climate, both were actively engaged in the political process. This led to the identification and subsequent disillusionment and break with the French Communist party. Camus and Ellul were each active in the French Resistance movement and were interested in the

21 Meeting the Absurd 12 development of post-world War II French politics. Camus and Ellul each looked into the abyss of human existence, living through France during WW II, and responded in unique and different ways. While many similarities existed in the lives and works of Ellul and Camus fundamental differences exist as well. When Camus addressed the topic of hope, it was with the knowledge that life was meaningless and only a cautious, realistic hope remained as an option. Camus also did not appeal to anyone or anything beyond human existence to bring hope into the world. In contrast, Ellul responded to the human crises that he faced by relying upon his religious faith, a faith that he believed existed beyond human construction. In the preface to Hope in the Time of Abandonment, Ellul wrote: I am to speak of hope, but not as an affair of the intellect. For me it came by unforeseen paths, in the course of a severe trial in which everything was once again called into question. This involved not only my deepest personal attachments, and the significance of whatever I might undertake to do, but also that which constituted the very center of my person. (v) Ellul did not believe that life was hopeless. It is evident throughout his writing that this hopefulness was tied to his religious faith. Ellul believed that human life had meaning. In What I Believe, he wrote, I believe that life has meaning I reject absurdity (13). Ellul s complete rejection of the major metaphor of Camus s work is the strongest support found for their fundamentally different responses to their shared experiences. They provide an example of how two opposing worldviews can emerge from a shared experience. And although they did not share a similar response to their respective historical moment, they each functioned as a philosopher of communication by

22 Meeting the Absurd 13 demonstrating a constructive approach to the engagement of daily life with a deep commitment to ethical living. The fact that each man had similar life experiences but responded in different ways further illustrates the absurdity of human existence; there is not one appropriate response for a situation that is encountered. Within a moment of virtue and narrative contention, a multiplicity of options is available when one is attempting to make an ethical decision. Ellul himself recognized the theme of the absurd within the work of Camus, specifically within The Plague (Technological Bluff 200). The recognition by Camus of the human s freedom to rebel was also known by Ellul. In The Autopsy of Revolution Ellul demonstrates awareness of Camus s The Rebel (3). In this text Camus distinguishes between rebellion and revolution.as distinct from political revolution, true rebellion denies a future of reconciliation in which social unity is achieved and problems resolved (Stanley 79). Stanley, whose article is included within a collected work edited by communication scholar Clifford G. Christians, continues by exploring the seemingly irresolvable tension between freedom and rebellion. One must have freedom in order to rebel against that freedom (80). This tension between freedom and restraint is a topic of great interest within the discipline of communication (Arnett, Practical ). Such tensions demonstrate the interest in dialectical thinking within communication scholarship. Ideas from philosophers of communication such as Ellul and Camus inform present scholarship and provide further texture for these contemporary concerns. As they each engaged the moment, both Camus and Ellul showed evidence of dialectical thinking as well as a commitment to dialogue. Ellul s writing, such as his essay On Dialectic included in Jacques Ellul: Interpretive Essays (Christians and Van

23 Meeting the Absurd 14 Hook), works through ideas in a dialectical fashion. Much of Camus s thought about dialogue is evident in his writings found in Combat, an underground newspaper that supported the French Resistance Movement during World War II. While Camus s work has not received adequate attention within communication scholarship, in addition to his use of the metaphor of the absurd and his commitment to dialectical thinking, his interest in ethics, hope, freedom, his practical outworking of philosophy, and his connections to Jacques Ellul assist in reconceptualizing Camus as a philosopher of communication with a deep ethical commitment. Each engaged the metaphor of the absurd; Camus embraced the metaphor as a description of his moment while Ellul rejected the metaphor within his life and work. While Camus s commitment to dialectical thinking did not represent a unique response to his historical moment, his commitment to dialogue combined with his acceptance of absurdity provides a theoretical connection to our present moment of narrative and virtue contention. The Absurd: Meeting Narrative Decline The current postmodern moment is one in which the grand narrative of the past is in decline. Lyotard wrote, The grand narrative has lost its credibility, regardless of what mode of unification it uses, regardless of whether it is a speculative narrative or a narrative of emancipation (37). There is resonance between this moment of narrative uncertainty and Olivier Todd s explanation of the absurd for Camus, which may be understood in terms of the nonsensical, contradictory, false and unreasonable (144). Camus explored the notion of absurdity as the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart ( Myth 21). Within this confrontation is an effort to discover whether life holds any meaning. This tension,

24 Meeting the Absurd 15 and the quest for meaning, is extremely prevalent within the current postmodern moment that lacks an overriding metanarrative that guides both public and private communication. In The Myth of Sisyphus the realization that life has no meaning is illuminated by Camus s explanation of the metaphor of the absurd. This philosophical essay was a formally perfect sketch, and sometimes a philosophical prose poem, falsely cold seeming and strongly autobiographical (Todd 142). Todd further explains the metaphor of the absurd as a contradiction between the irrational character of the world and every thinking man s desire for clarity (145). In an interview, Camus explains: Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful. An analysis of the idea of revolt can help discover ideas capable of restoring a relative meaning to existence, although a meaning that will always be in danger. (Lyrical 346) The metaphor of the absurd, and Camus s subsequent explorations of revolt, provides a commonplace for discussion and debate, a necessary ingredient for public dialogue (Arnett and Arneson 49). His use of revolt provided a necessary and rhetorical reaction to the changing historical moment and served as an embodiment of the metaphor of the absurd through his further engagement and action within an ever-changing moment. The metaphor of the absurd, and its connection to our present moment, is further textured when interpreted through the lens of this moment of metanarrative decline and narrative tension. In such a moment there is always an inherent risk in attempting to implement a template that is appropriate in one narrative within another, very different, narrative structure. It is not uncommon to find many people within our American culture

25 Meeting the Absurd 16 who become overly concerned with convenience and finding a quick fix while a willingness to take the time to find an appropriate and ethical response to even basic decisions is often lacking. These unreflective decisions often emerge out of a longing to satisfy personal desires and are motivated by nothing more than personal preference, lacking any connection to or consideration of a larger life narrative. These decisions could be considered groundless, thus leaving one with only personal preference. If someone does not work from a grounded standpoint, in future moments he or she will be tempted to either implement the previously successful model or he/she will again be tempted to work from personal preference. Alasdair MacIntyre uses the term emotivism to indicate decision making that is nothing but expressions of preference, expressions of attitude or feeling (After Virtue 12). Either way, one will lack the coherence and fidelity suggested by Walter R. Fisher that gives meaning to one s personal narrative and in turn, his or her life. The attempt of Albert Camus was to engage life through the lens of a metaphor that both expressed his own foundation as well as provided a framework in which he could find meaning for his own existence. The effort of Camus to create a consistent narrative from which to work would be applauded by Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, and Tipton, who recognize the connection between emotivism and an individualistic society. These authors write in the Good Society that in their academic project, We described a language of individualistic achievement and selffulfillment that often seems to make it difficult for people to sustain their commitments to others, either in intimate relationships or in the public sphere (5). In contrast to working from within a narrative structure and recognizing one s horizon, reliance upon the self has the great potential to create an individualistic and groundless culture. This

26 Meeting the Absurd 17 individualism can also lead to a Culture of Narcissism in which the world appears as a mirror of the self (Lasch 33). Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, and Tipton, write, [M]any of us have felt, in times both of prosperity and of adversity, that there is something missing in the individualistic set of values, that individualism alone does not allow persons to understand basic realities of their lives, especially their interdependence with others (Habits ix). While Camus often struggled with how to situate himself within a wider narrative, his commitment to dialogue allowed him to avoid falling into this culture of narcissism. In addition to the metaphor of the absurd providing insight into our current historical moment, Camus also provides an example of a person working from a constructive perspective as he was willing to draw upon the thought of many contemporaries and historical scholars as he engaged his own time in history. Of those who influenced Camus s thinking about the absurd, there are five names that appear to have greatly impacted not only his life s work, but more importantly his understanding of the absurd: Blaise Pascal ( ), Søren Kierkegaard ( ), Fyodor Dostoevsky ( ), Friedrich Nietzsche ( ), and Franz Kafka ( ). The following was the age of each upon his death: Pascal was 39, Kierkegaard was 42, Dostoevsky was 59, Nietzsche was 44 at the time of his well-documented mental breakdown and 55 at the time of his death, and Kafka was 40 years old at the time of his death. The average age at the time of death for the five men mentioned above is 47 years old the same age that Camus would have been if he had lived to experience his next birthday. While it is a fruitless and unproductive effort to ask what might have been? it is interesting to note the tragically short lives of each and how they were able to gather

27 Meeting the Absurd 18 around the theme of absurdity. One could consider the idea that brilliant scholars who live abbreviated lives represents an aspect of Camus s absurdity, illustrating that life is without order and one must make the most of the time one is given. An overview of the thought of each of these men is provided next as his ideas relate to Camus s use of the absurd. Pascal s influence on Camus and his writings may be explained in terms of individualism, choice, and the paradoxes of the human condition. It is through the outworking of these ideas that Pascal is considered one of the precursors to existentialism. The paradox of living is what provided the foundation for Camus s understanding of the absurd. One of Pascal s most well-known portions of the Pensees is commonly referred to as Pascal s Wager in which he provides a choice between a belief in God or a denial of God s existence. Cruikshank wrote, Having faced a dilemma similar to part of the dilemma outlined by Pascal, Camus wagers in the opposite direction.[h]is decision to stake everything on immediate physical life is the result of arbitrary choice (35). Lavine describes Pascal as expressive of absurdity during the time of Descartes (331). Camus praised this beloved philosopher in a letter to a friend; Camus wrote, If you knew how ravishing Pascal is... clear, profound, and unforgettable about the human heart and in his despairing glory (Todd 30). While Camus did not share the religious convictions of Pascal, it is evident in The Stranger that Camus shared with Pascal an interest in the individual s reaction to the human condition. The influence of Kierkegaard, widely known as the father of existentialism (Eller 57), can be traced to his early existential themes of the response of the individual to the human condition as hopeless and full of anxiety and despair. The publishing of

28 Meeting the Absurd 19 Camus s The Stranger was critiqued as the sign of Kierkegaard s arrival in France (Lottman 268). Lavine explains Kierkegaard s view of life as inexplicable, and wholly absurd (331). Kierkegaard s writings were responding to crisis, and what ought to be done. Much like Camus, Kierkegaard s writings demonstrated an interest in how one responds to everyday events, and while deeply philosophical, his ideas were not esoteric and unrelated to the lived situation. While Camus did not directly cite Kierkegaard when discussing despair in The Rebel, Kierkegaard s exploration of the topic provides helpful insights into an understanding of the topic. Kierkegaard wrote in The Sickness Unto Death, a text dedicated to the question of despair, If there is to be any question of a sickness unto death in the strictest sense, it must be a sickness of which the end is death and death is the end. This is precisely what despair is (17). One way in which Kierkegaard makes use of the metaphor of despair is abandoning the project of achieving the salient good because one finds oneself powerless to achieve it (Hannay and Marino 331). When engaging absurdity, one does not respond with I ll never but seeks to encounter life on its own terms and respond in an ethical and productive manner without falling into a perpetual state of despair. Camus commented that Dostoevsky s novel The Possessed is one of the four or five works that I rank above all others ( Foreword The Possessed). Camus adapted this work for the theater and it represents one of his most cherished publications. As he worked through the implications of the absurd in The Myth of Sisyphus Camus wrote, And probably no one so much as Dostoevsky has managed to give the absurd world such familiar and tormenting charms (110). While Camus himself was an atheist, he could constructively work with the religious themes of Dostoevsky s novels. Camus

29 Meeting the Absurd 20 wrote, It is possible to be Christian and absurd ( Myth 112). While Camus never accepted the narrative of the Christian faith for himself, when speaking to a group of Christians he stated that he believed the tension of the differences allowed for real dialogue, [and] that falsehood is just is just as much the opposite of dialogue as is silence, and that the only possible dialogue is the kind between people who remain what they are and speak their minds ( Unbeliever 70). With Dostoevsky, Camus shared an interest in humanizing the ideals of the absurd, as seen in his memorable characters in The Stranger and The Plague. It was Nietzsche who provided inspiration for Camus. For Camus, Nietzsche nourished his suspicions of all traditional morality (Todd 142). Camus s concern with responding to the historical moment turned more so on morality than philosophy. In exploring this notion, Camus searched for a way one should live in such an absurd world. Trying to sketch out a morality, he turned back to Nietzsche: What matters is not eternal life but eternal liveliness (Todd 145). Much like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche was responding to crisis and prescribing what ought to be done, which can be understood as a concern for the ethical response to the historical moment. Lavine comments: For Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, and for the existentialism which follows them, the crisis of the modern world is a problem concerning the individual, the human self. The consciousness of the human subject is the only key to the diagnosis and possible cure of the problems of the modern era. (326) Kaufmann found that Camus s The Myth of Sisyphus sounds like a distant echo of Nietzsche (21). Camus shared with Nietzsche an interest in not only the implications of one s philosophical position but also a deep concern for ethical conduct in the midst of

30 Meeting the Absurd 21 daily living. One major difference between Camus and Nietzsche was that Camus did not give into despair and succumb to the dead end of nihilism. Camus did not become immobilized by his understanding of absurdity but discovered that the meaning found in one s life is created by the individual, thus moving him towards greater productivity and away from total cynicism. For Camus, resignation and hope went hand in hand where each keeps the other healthy. The final influence, Franz Kafka, created the most problems for Camus during his lifetime. Since Kafka was a Jewish writer, a chapter on Kafka s work within the original version of The Myth of Sisyphus had to be eliminated before it was allowed to be published in German occupied France in 1941 (Lottman 262). This essay would appear later in a free zone magazine and in subsequent editions of the text (Lottman 265). Two themes of interest to Camus are evident in the writings of Kafka. First, Camus comments that within Kafka s work You recognize a theme familiar to existential philosophy: truth contrary to morality ( Myth 133). Second, he is captured by Kafka s interest in maintaining hope in an effort to overcome the despair that often presents itself in the absurd conditions of everyday life. Camus wrote, Within the limits of the human condition, what greater hope than the hope that allows an escape from that condition ( Myth 135). Camus s work in the French underground demonstrates his commitment to perform what he thought was the truthful, ethical act even when illegal. This concern for legality provides evidence that Camus recognized the limits that one s situatedness presents. While Camus searched for meaning in life he never abandoned the notion that a realistic hope existed. After suffering in several concentrations camps during World War II, Viktor Frankl wrote, the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect

31 Meeting the Absurd 22 (75). Camus, along with Kafka and Frankl, represent a commitment to a hope that takes the challenges of life head-on, and maintains hope in spite of the absurdity of the moment While the personal notebooks of Camus reveal a variety of different influences upon his work, it is primarily through the ideas of Pascal, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and Kafka that Camus discovered the most texture for his understanding of the metaphor of the absurd. The variety of ideas and metaphors that he engaged through his own reading of the work of other novelists and philosophers allowed him to respond to his historical moment in a more appropriate manner. By his constructive use of the ideas Camus demonstrated the significance of the absurd for his own moment, as well as providing insight into how the absurd is connected to our own postmodern moment. A potential hazard in navigating the current postmodern moment is the risk of falling into despair due to the overwhelming availability of options from which to choose on a daily basis. The absurdity of this situation is that the world does not slow down so that a person has enough time to make a decision. Camus himself raised the question How, in fact, can we avoid falling into despair? Those we love have often been in danger before, from illness, death or madness, but we ourselves and the things we believe in have still lived on (Notebook III 149). When considering the collapse of a metanarrative within this postmodern moment, one can relate to Camus s entry entitled Letter to a Man in Despair in which he wrote, Often, the values on which our life is built has almost collapsed. But never before have these values and those we love been threatened all together and all at the same time. Never before have we been so completely handed over to destruction (Notebook III 149). Although Camus was often discouraged by the way things were happening in the culture around him, he did not give

32 Meeting the Absurd 23 up his fight to find and create meaning through his own actions and existence. The emergence of the metaphor of the absurd within the work of Albert Camus provided an opportunity for him to make sense of his historical moment, a moment of virtue and narrative contention. The similarities found between Camus s moment and the present postmodern moment, also a moment of virtue and narrative contention, allow for this same metaphor of absurdity to invite meaningful conversation about how to engage the present moment from an existential ethical perspective. Engaging the Absurd: The Role of Metaphor What the thought of Camus suggests is not that the world should always be viewed through the lens of the metaphor of the absurd but that we should allow the communicative space for the emergence of metaphors that help make sense of the moment before us. Arnett and Arneson write, applying concepts [metaphors] from a historical era other than our own requires concepts from a given theory to meet the needs (answer commonsense questions) of the present historical moment or we invite an interpretation of communication that is static and dangerously anachronistic (32). Camus s philosophical commitments kept his ideas grounded in everyday living as he worked out the implications of the metaphor of the absurd. Through an understanding of the metaphor of the absurd as it is evidenced in the writings of Albert Camus, one can be better prepared to appropriately engage the current postmodern moment, and thus avoid becoming an anachronism. One way in which an individual navigating through the postmodern moment can function as an anachronism is by assuming an approach to life that fails to engage life on its own terms and therefore inviting cynicism. Camus did not encourage an optimistic

33 Meeting the Absurd 24 outlook that held unrealistic expectations for living. Arnett and Arneson write, A wedding of hope and cynicism within a dialogic perspective is guided by a metaphor, not of unlimited potential, but of hope within limits (25-6). When one willingly recognizes the limits of a given moment while at the same time attempting to respond ethically and productively, one is walking in the land of Martin Buber s unity of contraries. This dialectical tension is lived out in the confusion of contradictions, not in the certainty of YES or NO (Arnett and Arneson 142). As stated previously, resignation and hope went hand in hand for Camus. This tension helps each keep the other portion healthy and provides limits within the optimism or unrealistic hope that many possess while engaging absurd circumstances. When viewing events in everyday life within a postmodern moment it is necessary to recognize the limitations inherent in any given perspective. For Hans-Georg Gadamer this limited perspective is considered the horizon which is the range of vision that includes everything that can be seen from a particular vantage point (Truth 302). When a person recognizes the bias one holds and the perspective from which one views the world the fact that he or she is situated within a larger narrative framework becomes apparent. Arnett writes, We limit interpretive vision by our situatedness while we open possibilities due to our situatedness (Dialogic Confession 182). Through the interplay between one s horizon and the given historical moment a new understanding of existence can come into view through the engagement with the metaphors that emerge. Albert Camus recognized the inherent limits of the human condition and his work reflected his desire to engage his moment in a manner that was faithful to his embodied tradition, or story, and was also appropriate for the moment before him; an approach to